Soft magnetic sintered materials are used in magnetic cores for such devices as low-loss yoke, transformer and choke coil used in motors, actuators or the like. And it is known that the soft magnetic sintered materials can be obtained by sintering a soft magnetic metal powder such as:                iron powder such as pure iron powder;        Fe—Si based soft magnetic iron alloy powder containing 0.1 to 10% by weight of Si with the rest consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities (for example, iron alloy powder of Fe-3% Si);        Fe—Si—Al based soft magnetic iron alloy powder containing 0.1 to 10% by weight of Si and 0.1 to 20% by weight of Al with the rest consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities (for example, Sendust iron alloy powder having a composition of Fe-9% Si-5% Al);        Fe—Al based soft magnetic iron alloy powder containing 0.1 to 20% by weight of Al with the rest consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities (for example, Alperm iron alloy powder having a composition of Fe-15% Al);        Fe—Cr based soft magnetic iron alloy powder containing 1 to 20% by weight of Cr and, as required, one or two of 5% or less Al and 5% or less Si with the rest consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities; or        nickel-based soft magnetic alloy powder containing 35 to 85% of Ni and, as required, one or more of 5% or less Mo, 5% or less Cu, 2% or less Cr and 0.5% or less Mn with the rest consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities (for example, powder of Fe-79% Ni) (hereinabove percentages are by weight). It is also known that soft magnetic sintered materials can be obtained by sintering a powder of a metal oxide such as ferrite that has a spinel structure. The ferrite having a spinel structure is generally represented by formula (MeFe)3O4 (where Me represents Mn, Zn, Ni, Mg, Cu, Fe or Co, or a mixture of some of these elements).        
However, although the soft magnetic sintered metals have high saturation magnetic flux densities, they are inferior in high frequency characteristics. The soft magnetic sintered metal oxides that are made by sintering powder of a metal oxide such as ferrite having a spinel structure, on the other hand, have good high frequency characteristics and relatively high initial magnetic permeability, but have low saturation magnetic flux densities. In order to overcome these drawbacks, a composite soft magnetic sintered material has been proposed that is obtained by sintering a composite soft magnetic powder formed from a soft magnetic metal powder of which particles are coated with layers of ferrite having a spinel structure on the surface thereof (refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. Sho 56-38402).
However, in the composite soft magnetic sintered material that is obtained by sintering the composite soft magnetic powder formed from the soft magnetic metal powder of which particles are coated with layers of ferrite having a spinel structure on the surface thereof, the ferrite layer having a spinel structure is made of an oxide and it is therefore difficult to sinter, thus resulting in a problem that the composite soft magnetic sintered material that has a sufficient density cannot be obtained. Thus there is a demand for a composite soft magnetic sintered material having further improved magnetic characteristics.